Lens testing device

ABSTRACT

A lens testing device includes a light source assembly, a pattern plate, and an imaging sensor. The light source assembly includes a transparent base plate, a light guide plate, and a number of illuminants. The light source assembly uses the light guide plate to uniformize light coming from the illuminants and emit the light onto the pattern plate. The imaging sensor is placed beneath the transparent base plate to sense the light passing through the pattern plate and focused by a lens under test.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional application of a commonly-assigned application entitled “LIGHT SOURCE ASSEMBLY AND RELATED LENS TESTING DEVICE,” filed on Jun. 2, 2010 with application Ser. No. 12/791,879. The disclosure of the above-identified application is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a light source assembly and a lens testing device having the light source assembly.

2. Description of Related Art

Generally, every lens needs to pass a modulation transfer function test to ensure the optical quality thereof. A lens testing device for testing a modulation transfer function of a lens usually includes a number of light tubes, a testing pattern plate, and an image sensor. The light tubes are configured for illuminating a testing image formed on the testing pattern plate. The testing image of the testing pattern plate is acquired by the image sensor through the lens to calculate a modulation transfer function of the lens.

In a typical lens testing device, the testing pattern plate is directly illuminated by the light tubes. However, the outer environment easily affects the light coming out from the light tubes. Thus, the uniformity of luminance on the testing pattern plate is less than satisfactory.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide a lens testing device which can overcome the above-mentioned problems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the embodiments can be better understood with references to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the embodiments. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is an exploded, schematic view of a lens testing device according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion II of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a number of microstructures formed on a light guide plate of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an assembled view of the lens testing device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an assembled, schematic view of the lens testing device of FIG. 1 when the lens testing device is used to test a lens.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, a lens testing device 1 in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The lens testing device 1 is configured to test a modulation transfer function of a lens 2. The lens testing device 1 includes a light source assembly 11, a pattern plate 18, and an imaging sensor 19. The light source assembly 11 includes a base plate 10, a light guide plate 12, a number of illuminants 14, and a reflective sheet 16.

The pattern plate 18 is made of transparent material and includes a number of patterns 180 formed thereon. The patterns 180 are configured to test the modulation transfer function of the lens 2. It is well known that the arrangement of the patterns 180 on the pattern plate 18 can be different according to different kinds of modulation transfer functions to be tested.

In this embodiment, the pattern plate 18 is substantially rectangular and the patterns 180 are divided into four groups of stripes correspondingly formed at four corners of the pattern plate 18. Each group of patterns 180 includes two pairs of stripes arranged perpendicular to each other. The density of each of the stripe pairs is different in each group.

The imaging sensor 19 includes a sensing surface 190 to sense the light incident thereon.

The base plate 10 is substantially rectangular and includes an upper surface 100, a lower surface 102, a pair of substantially parallel first side surfaces 106, a pair of substantially parallel second side surfaces 104, and a pair of substantially parallel positioning protrusions 109. The upper surface 100 is substantially parallel to the lower surface 102. The first side surfaces 106 are substantially perpendicularly connected to the upper surface 100 and the lower surface 102. The second side surfaces 104 are substantially perpendicularly connected to the upper surface 100, the lower surface 102, and the first side surfaces 106.

The positioning protrusions 109 are substantially elongated rectangular blocks and substantially perpendicularly extend outwards from the upper surface 100 near the opposite second side surfaces 104. The positioning protrusions 109 extend along a direction substantially perpendicular to the first side surfaces 106. The positioning protrusions 109 define a first receiving space 105 therebetween. A pair of second receiving spaces 107 is defined at outer flanks of the positioning protrusions 109, respectively. The first receiving space 105 goes through the first side surfaces 106.

The base plate 10 defines a through hole 108 passing through the first side surfaces 106 near the lower surface 102. The through hole 108 extends along a direction substantially perpendicular to the first side surfaces 106, and defines a pair of first openings 108 a on the first side surfaces 106. A width of each first opening 108 a is approximately equal to a distance between the positioning protrusions 109. The base plate 10 is made of transparent material, for example glass or plastic.

The light guide plate 12 is a substantially rectangular plate and includes a pair of substantially parallel light incident surfaces 124, a first light reflecting surface 120, a light emitting surface 122, and a number of microstructures 122 a. The first light reflecting surface 120 is substantially parallel to the light emitting surface 122. The light incident surfaces 124 are substantially perpendicularly connected to the first light reflecting surface 120 and the light emitting surface 122. The microstructures 122 a are formed on the light emitting surface 122 spatially corresponding to the patterns 180, and are configured to guide the light out of the light guide plate 12 from the light emitting surface 122. The microstructures 122 a can be hemispherical bumps or hemispherical recesses.

The illuminants 14 can be fluorescent lamps, cold cathode fluorescent lamps, or light emitting diodes. In this embodiment, the illuminants 14 are six light emitting diodes.

The reflective sheet 16 is substantially rectangular and includes a second light reflecting surface 160. The second light reflecting surface 160 is substantially similar to the upper surface 100 in shape and size. A high reflection material is coated on the light reflecting surface 160.

In assembly, referring to FIG. 4, the light guide plate 12 is accommodated in the first receiving space 105. The light incident surfaces 124 correspondingly face the positioning protrusions 109. The light emitting surface 122 is placed on the upper surface 100. The illuminants 14 are accommodated in the second receiving spaces 107 and spaced at equal intervals in each of the second receiving spaces 107. In this embodiment, each second receiving space 107 accommodates three illuminants 14.

The reflective sheet 16 is placed upon the upper surface 100 to cover the first receiving space 105 and the second receiving space 107. The second light reflecting surface 160 faces the first light reflecting surface 120 to further reflect the light escaping from the first light reflecting surface 120 back into the light guide plate 12. The reflective sheet 16 and the two positioning protrusions 109 cooperatively define a pair of second openings 105 a on the first side surfaces 106.

The pattern plate 18 is accommodated in the through hole 108. The imaging sensor 19 is placed beneath the base plate 10 with the sensing surface 190 facing the lower surface 102.

In use, referring to FIGS. 3 and 5, light coming from the illuminants 14 passes through the positioning protrusions 109 and enters the light guide plate 12 via the light incident surfaces 124. The light is totally reflected back and forth between the first reflective surface 120 and the output surface 122 to uniformize the luminance of the light. The light is then guided out of the light emitting surface 122 of the light guide plate 12 by the microstructures 122 a and enters the base plate 10, passes through the pattern plate 18 received in the through hole 108, and finally emits from the lower surface 102 of the base plate 10. The tested lens 2 focuses the light emitted from the base plate 10 onto the sensing surface 190 of the imaging sensor 19. The modulation transfer function of the lens 2 will be tested by analyzing the light sensed by the imaging sensor 19.

The pattern plate 18 can be easily changed by sliding it out from one of the first openings 108 a. The corresponding light guide plate 12 can also be easily changed by sliding it out from one of the second openings 105 a.

The light source assembly 11 uses the light guide plate 12 to uniformize the light from the illuminants 14 for illuminating the patterns 180. Therefore, the uniformity of luminance on the pattern plate 18 can be improved and the light can be used more efficiently. Furthermore, the pattern plate 18 is well protected because the pattern plate 18 is accommodated in the light guide plate 12.

While various exemplary and preferred embodiments have been described, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited thereto. To the contrary, various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art) are intended to also be covered. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A lens testing device for testing a modulation transfer function of a lens, the lens testing device comprising: a pattern plate defining a plurality of patterns; an imaging sensor; and a light source assembly comprising: a transparent base plate comprising an upper surface, the transparent base plate defining a first receiving space above the upper surface, and a through hole configured for accommodating the pattern plate; a light guide plate comprising a light incident surface, a light emitting surface perpendicular to the light incident surface, and a plurality of microstructures formed on the light emitting surface; and at least one illuminant; wherein the light guide plate is accommodated in the first receiving space with the light emitting surface facing the upper surface, the at least one illuminant is placed on the upper surface and faces the light incident surface for emitting light into the light guide plate, the microstructures are configured to guide the light out of the light guide plate, and the imaging sensor is placed at an opposite side of the base plate to the light guide plate.
 2. The lens testing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base plate further comprises a lower surface, two opposite parallel first side surfaces perpendicularly connected to the upper surface, and two opposite parallel second side surfaces, the lower surface is parallel to the upper surface, and the first side surfaces are perpendicularly connected to the upper surface, the lower surface, and the second side surfaces.
 3. The lens testing device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the base plate further comprises a pair of parallel positioning protrusions perpendicularly extending outwards from the upper surface adjacent to the second side surfaces, the positioning protrusions extend along a direction perpendicular to the first side surface, and the first receiving space is defined between the positioning protrusions.
 4. The lens testing device as claimed in claim 3, wherein two second receiving spaces are defined at outer flanks of the positioning protrusions, respectively, the at least one illuminant is a plurality of illuminants, and the illuminants are accommodated in the second receiving spaces and are equidistantly spaced from one another in each of the second receiving spaces.
 5. The lens testing device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the light guide plate further comprises a first light reflecting surface parallel to the light emitting surface, and another light incident surface, the two light incident surfaces are located at opposite ends of the light guide plate, and the illuminants are placed corresponding to the light incident surfaces.
 6. The lens testing device as claimed in claim 5, further comprising a reflective sheet, wherein the reflective sheet comprises a second light reflecting surface over the first receiving space and the second receiving spaces, and the second light reflecting surface faces the first light reflecting surface.
 7. The lens testing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one illuminant is selected from the group consisting of a fluorescent lamp, a cold cathode fluorescent lamp, and a light emitting diode.
 8. The lens testing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the microstructures are selected from the group consisting of hemispherical bumps and hemispherical recesses.
 9. The lens testing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the patterns include four groups of patterns respectively formed at four corners of the pattern plate, each group of patterns comprises two pairs of stripes perpendicular to each other, and the density of each of the stripe pairs is different in each group.
 10. A lens testing device for testing a lens, the lens testing device comprising: a pattern plate defining a plurality of patterns; a transparent base plate comprising a slot receiving the pattern plate therein, the pattern plate substantially parallel to the base plate; a light guide plate attached on the base plate, the light guide plate having a light incident surface and a light emitting surface substantially perpendicular to the light incident surface, the light emitting surface facing the pattern plate; at least one illuminant facing the light incident surface; and an image sensor arranged at an opposite side of the base plate to the light guide plate to capture an image of the patterns.
 11. The lens testing device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the base plate further comprises an upper surface, a lower surface, two opposite parallel first side surfaces perpendicularly connected to the upper surface, and two opposite parallel second side surfaces, the lower surface is parallel to the upper surface, and the first side surfaces are perpendicularly connected to the upper surfaces, the lower surface, and the second side surfaces.
 12. The lens testing device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the base plate defines a first receiving space above the upper surface, and the light guide plate is accommodated in the first receiving space with the light emitting surface facing the upper surface.
 13. The lens testing device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the base plate further comprises a pair of parallel positioning protrusions extending from the upper surface, the positioning protrusions extend along a direction perpendicular to the first side surfaces, and the first receiving space is defined between the positioning protrusions.
 14. The lens testing device as claimed in claim 13, wherein two second receiving spaces are defined at outer flanks of the positioning protrusions, respectively, the at least one illuminant is a plurality of illuminants, and the illuminants are accommodated in the second receiving spaces and are equidistantly spaced from one another in each of the second receiving spaces.
 15. The lens testing device as claimed in claim 14, wherein the light guide plate further comprises a first light reflecting surface parallel to the light emitting surface, and another light incident surface, the two light incident surfaces are located at opposite ends of the light guide plate, and the illuminants are placed corresponding to the light incident surfaces.
 16. The lens testing device as claimed in claim 14, further comprising a reflective sheet, wherein the reflective sheet comprises a second light reflecting surface over the first receiving space and the second receiving spaces, and the second light reflecting surface faces the first light reflecting surface.
 17. The lens testing device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the at least one illuminant is selected from the group consisting of a fluorescent lamp, a cold cathode fluorescent lamp, and a light emitting diode.
 18. The lens testing device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the microstructures are selected from the group consisting of hemispherical bumps and hemispherical recesses.
 19. The lens testing device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the patterns include four groups of patterns respectively formed at four corners of the pattern plate, each group of patterns comprises two pairs of stripes perpendicular to each other, and the density of each of the stripe pairs is different in each group. 